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National Socialist Regime

Mar 31, 2021

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter March 2021

2021-03-31T18:24:40-04:00March 31st, 2021|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter March 2021

Dear Friends, What a surprise: The Arolsen Archives own a copy of a name list of Jews released from the concentration camp Sachsenhausen on December 23, 1938 with Fritz Ascher's name! Copy of Doc. No. 4094051#1 in conformity with Arolsen Archives Name List of Jews Released from the Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen on December 23, 1938 I am overwhelmed by your interest in our crowdsourcing initiative “everynamecounts,” in which we are partnering with the Arolsen Archives to help build the largest digital memorial to the victims of Nazism. On our designated project page, you can watch the recording of our Zoom event with Floriane Azoulay (Director) and Giora Zwilling (Deputy Head [...]

Mar 7, 2021

Wednesday, March 10 at 12:00pm ET

2021-03-07T19:20:48-05:00March 7th, 2021|Newsletter|Comments Off on Wednesday, March 10 at 12:00pm ET

Dear Friends, We now are embarking on an exciting new project, which is only successful with everyone’s help: starting Wednesday, March 10 we are partnering with the Arolsen Archives to help build the largest digital memorial to the victims of Nazism. And we actually are the first US organization to partner to do so. We invite you to join us on Wednesday, March 10 at 12:00pm ET for the Zoom event “Building the Largest Digital Memorial to the Victims of Nazism: The Arolsen Archives” to hear Floriane Azoulay (Director) and Giora Zwilling (Deputy Head of Archives) from the Arolsen Archives speak about the importance of the documents at Arolsen Archives for Holocaust research, and the role [...]

Feb 25, 2021

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter February 2021

2021-02-25T20:35:24-05:00February 25th, 2021|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter February 2021

Dear Friends, Did you ever wonder who created the large Menorah that is standing in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem? We’ll bring the story to your screen, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at 12:00pm US ET! Christian Walda (Dortmund, Germany) will speak about “Becoming Jewish: The Sculptor Benno Elkan (1877-1960),” followed by focused presentations by Wolfgang E. Weick (Dortmund) and Ori Z. Soltes (Washington DC). Please register for this Zoom event HERE. Benno Elkan, Menorah, 1956. Knesset, Jerusalem The oeuvre of the German born sculptor was largely made up of commissions. In the beginning, he mainly created tombs. Medals, portrait busts of well-known personalities, monuments to victims and [...]

Jan 10, 2021

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter January 2021

2021-02-24T05:46:01-05:00January 10th, 2021|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter January 2021

Dear Friends, Please join us, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the German Consulate General in New York TOMORROW, January 19 at 2:00pm ET for a stirring performance of Carolyn Enger’s Mischlinge Exposé, which will be live streamed from Edmond J. Safra Hall. The performance will be followed by a discussion. Registration link for the livestream HERE. Carolyn Enger is a pianist based in the greater New York City area, with roots reaching back to Breslau, now Wroclaw, Poland. Her “Mischlinge Exposé” brings to light the stories of Mischlinge—a derogatory term used by the Nazis to describe people with both Jewish and Aryan ancestry—like her father and godmother, interwoven [...]

Jan 1, 2021

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY New Year Newsletter

2021-02-24T05:44:07-05:00January 1st, 2021|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY New Year Newsletter

Dear Friends, Thank You For Your Support! When our exhibitions were prematurely closed, we created virtual spaces to get together for lectures and discussions, digital projects and conferences. Thanks to your support, our community grew globally.  But this past year has been financially hard for us. If you can, please consider a tax deductible DONATION (https://fritzaschersociety.org/donate/) to the Fritz Ascher Society. The mailing of our new book publication has started. If you are interested in details about ordering a copy, please email fritzaschersociety@gmail.com. (Sorry, US and Canada only) We are very excited about this interdisciplinary volume, which explores the painting of Alice Lok Cahana, a survivor of three [...]

Dec 16, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter Year End 2020

2020-12-16T12:52:26-05:00December 16th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter Year End 2020

Dear Friends, I HAVE to let you know before 2020 ends: The book is out! We are very excited about this interdisciplinary volume, which explores the painting of Alice Lok Cahana, a survivor of three Holocaust concentration camps; the poetry of her son, Ronnie Cahana; and the photography and award-winning filmmaking of her granddaughter, Kitra Cahana. It places that layered narrative within the context of art, the biology of memory, and the physiological and psychological question of how both creativity and intense trauma can be transmitted from one generation to the next. The book is generously sponsored by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New [...]

Nov 23, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter December 2020

2020-12-01T06:51:39-05:00November 23rd, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter December 2020

Dear Friends, With Thanksgiving upon us, we announce our last events for 2020:  Kitra Cahana, The Cult of Maria Lionza: Fire, 2009. ©Kitra Cahana "A subject passes through me," explains Kitra Cahana. Here, a man who has taken on an Indian spirit and therefore has the power to touch fire, jumps through a fire pit without even flinching on October 12, 2009 during the Baile en Candela - "The Fire Dance" at the entrance to Sorte mountain in Venezuela. On the eve of the 12th of October every year The Fire Dance takes place on the mountain, wherein Maria Lionza practitioners will dress up as Indians take on [...]

Nov 1, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter November 2020

2020-11-23T23:33:37-05:00November 1st, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter November 2020

Dear Friends, First of all, IF YOU ARE AN US CITIZEN, PLEASE VOTE! John Heartfield, Krieg und Leichen – Die letzte Hoffnung der Reichen, Montagefotografie für die Arbeiter-Illustrierten-Zeitung, 1932, Nr. 18, Silbergelatineabzug, kaschiert Akademie der Künste, Berlin,  Inv.Nr. JH 1955 © The Heartfield Community of Heirs / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020 This will be an extremely busy month at FAS, starting on November 4, 2020 at 12:00pm ET with Rosa von der Schulenburg’s lecture “About John Heartfield’s Political Engagement and Private Life in London”, which is part of our monthly zoom series “Fight or Flight. stories of artists under repression,” generously funded by Allianz Partners. (SEE EVENT HERE) John [...]

Oct 14, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #36, October 2020

2020-11-24T20:14:35-05:00October 14th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #36, October 2020

Dear Friends, On October 17 we celebrate Fritz Ascher’s birthday - this year with the launch of DigiFAS - diverse, innovative digital initiatives that provide new ways of engagement with the art and life of artists persecuted by an authoritarian regime. DigiFAS is generously sponsored by Allianz Partners. This launch includes the Society’s first-ever fully digital exhibition “Fritz Ascher: Themes and Variations.” You can explore the exhibition HERE. We have worked on this for months and can’t wait for your reactions! We also invite you to participate in the 2- week digital engagement project “Send in the Clowns,” which explores the clown as a figure between tragedy and comedy, between self- identification [...]

Sep 17, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

2020-09-17T22:58:37-04:00September 17th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany Dear Friends, The Jewish New Year is upon us, and it feels as if the New keeps coming. The exhibition “The Loner. Clowns in Fritz Ascher's Art (1893-1970)” at Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany was opened with an event following  social distancing rules, my video greeting and a concert in the courtyard. The exhibition is on view until November 29, and I very much encourage you to see it (more information HERE). In the exhibition, Ascher’s depictions of clowns are contrasted with depictions of  nature, which dominated his post-Holocaust work. Inspired by the nearby Grunewald, the artist created vivid landscapes and powerful close-ups of the sun, trees and flowers, which [...]

Aug 20, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #34, August 2020

2020-08-20T21:32:19-04:00August 20th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #34, August 2020

Dear Friends, What a strange summer this is. But I have exciting news of some degree of normalcy: an exhibition in Germany! This is no small feast in these times, and I am thankful to my co-curator Julia Diekmann for her flexibility and creativity in co-organizing the exhibition. Who would have thought that the largest hurdle is getting the artwork out of the locked down campus of Richmond University? In the end it all worked - our shipper Cadogan Tate had just taken up operation again and flight schedules for art opened up, the drawings, which have never been shown before will be matted and framed practically overnight, the artwork will be hanged as fast as it probably never [...]

Jul 9, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #33, July 2020

2020-07-15T15:54:15-04:00July 9th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #33, July 2020

Dear Friends, Antisemitism and racism are not the same. But they are both based on the lack of regard to the values this country was founded on: freedom, justice and equality. As a proud immigrant, I deeply believe in these values, admire the dynamic energy of this country, and hope that this unprecedented time helps speed up the process towards realizing these ideals of freedom, justice and equality for all. As an individual and as the executive director of the Fritz Ascher Society, I strive to do my part in this process. The Fritz Ascher Society tells the stories of artists, who lived and worked in Germany, as the country abandoned its first and very fragile democracy and instead [...]